


laughter out of dead bellies

by lesblep



Series: string theory (ode for the election of his sepulchre) [1]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Gen, Memory Alteration, sibling relationships, writing hell secret satan 2k18
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-09-30 07:38:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17219723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesblep/pseuds/lesblep
Summary: Lup escapes early. She promptly raises hell.***Or, strings and all their consequences: a study in family ties.





	laughter out of dead bellies

**Author's Note:**

  * For [talfryn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/talfryn/gifts).



> Daring as never before, wastage as never before.  
> Young blood and high blood,  
> fair cheeks, and fine bodies;
> 
> fortitude as never before
> 
> frankness as never before,  
> disillusions as never told in the old days,  
> hysterias, trench confessions,  
> laughter out of dead bellies.
> 
> -Ezra Pound, Ode Pour L'election De Son Sepulchre

The first thing Taako remembers- not blinking awake in his stagecoach like he's supposed to, exhausted to the bone _but in a fulfilling way, y’know?-_ is mostly gone, now. He's never told _anyone_ what his first memory is, cause frankly it's none of their damn business. He really only thinks on it every once in awhile, when he's standing on a cliff’s edge or a balcony, and he starts to shake- except _not,_ cause he's Taako from TV, and Taako from TV ain't afraid of nothing but rising prices of ingredients, c’mon, be reasonable.

 

He remembers this much:

 

    1. He is scared, more scared than a wizard-slash-orphan-slash-chef should rightfully ever be, enough to be vibrating out of his skin.
    2. His fist is gripped around a thin length of wood, truly terrible wand etiquette but who gives a damn.
    3. He is wearing a bright, bright colour, one that clashes with the night sky, but he can't recall what that colour is. Probably doesn't matter.
    4. There is a man, begging him to do something.
    5. He is crying. The man, not Taako, _duh,_ cause chaboy don't cry, especially not for random human dudes.
    6. The human falls over the side- of what? We just don't know- and he reaches out to him as he falls but it's _too late-_
    7. __I'm sorry, Taako, it was the only way-__



 

(Anyway.)

 

Everyone is always clamoring, desperate for Taako to spill what’s on the end of his Strings. They’re not particularly special, there’s one for each pinky, just like everyone else. But Taako-From-TV knows what’s what: you don’t tell anybody about who’s on the end of your String ‘til you legit found ‘em. The black one stretches toward the High Road. He’s travelled along it a few times, but it’s never gotten any shorter, so he’s had no luck finding that half. Doesn’t matter, think of something else. The red, the one he keeps even further under wraps, leads straight down. They’re probably dead and buried, which is a shitty thought, but he’s never told anybody about his suspicions, so whenever someone from the local news or the Bugbear Report or what have you asks, Taako just winks.

 

“None of your business, bubeleh.”

 

Sizzle It Up is doing fantastic, thanks for asking, when he and Sazed and half their usual crowd travels to the Underdark. Taako pointedly does not let his eyes follow the Red, does not wonder if the reason it went down was because one-third of his heart belongs to a Drow instead of a dead somebody, preferably a Drow with a whip-tongue and maybe training as a bard because yes, he’s got a type and that type is nerds with a lot of charisma, shut up, does not wonder anything but where his next show will be.

 

The Underdark goes well. There’s a Drow, a sweetheart named Ren, who begs a signature off him. Taako sends her off with a kiss on the cheek and a glossy eight by ten; tells her to follow her heart, not her Strings, means it for some reason. She beams, lighting up the backstage, and if he lets her name roll around his tongue a little longer than usual when it comes to his fans, that’s for him to know and for literally everyone else to Not Know. She reminds him of s̴͉̗̭̗͕͔̼͢͝o͕͉̭̞͜ͅm̵̡͔e͓̼͔o̪̱͖̘̥n̸̙̦͡ḛ̟̰̥̮̯̖̙̟.̶͎͈̬͙̺̲̜̫

 

Actually, nevermind. What was he doing again? Sazed knocks on the top of Taako’s desk, and chaboy blinks. “Hey,” Sazed says.

 

“Hey,” Taako replies. “Meet anyone fun tonight? Any new ingredients?”

 

Sazed seats himself on top of the table and also a pile of headshots, brushing a pen to the floor. Taako Mage Hands it back up, tucks it into his bun. “Firelichen and bat stew sounds good,” he grins. “Maybe spiderblood wine. What about you?”

 

 _Ren,_ something whispers. It gets swallowed by the turmoil that is a star’s mind and nothing else, nope, no ̴s͞uspi͏ci͢o҉us͝ inc̢id̶e͜nt̸s͝ ̡r̨ęlate͝d͢ t͝o̕ fanta͞sy ͘je҉l̛l̴y͡fi̕sh͟ here. “Nah,” Taako says. “Just the usual. Let’s pack up, yeah?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

And then there’s Glamour Springs, and ain’t _that_ a kick in the head. All the gold he’s earned he puts into the capable hands of Sazed, second-in-command of Sizzle It Up With Taako And No One Else, Thanks For Considering, Sweetpea, But We Have A Branding Initiative That We Need To Keep In Mind. A mistake, of course, but Taako is a bit of a dingus when it comes to trust. He gets left behind at the first town they reach, two days of running behind them, and it’s fine. It’s fine. He wouldn’t wanna stick with a mass murderer either.

 

*******

 

Lup is dead. Dead and a half. Too tired to be anything other than dead and mildly angry.

 

At first, she rages. Sets the curtained room ablaze and shakes her prison around for nearly a week straight. Never once does she slip out of her skeleton's grip. Never once does someone come to get her.

 

Eventually, she breathes out and out and stops using her lungs. Liches here, liches in Faerun aren't angry. They aren't sad. They just- they just _are,_ and it turns out it's easy to let go of her anger. It's the easiest thing she's ever done in her life.

 

(The Umbrastaff sits in the darkness, ten years pass, and nothing changes. Not for a dead girl.)

 

***

 

Merle is… something. Dude studies his cantrips a lot for a holy man. It’s whatever, Taako won’t judge, sometimes clerics need a little stress relief.

 

Magnus is amazing, though. He’s not Taako’s type, but damn is he fun to jam with. Jam, in this situation, means push a sleeping Merle out of the cart and watch him run to catch up, stubby legs. It’s almost too easy to b̨͜͜͜o͘͢҉͘͜n̸͜͢͠d̢̨̡͠͞ ͜͏with them. Doesn’t talk about his Strings either, but seems like the kinda guy who’s got it all lined up.

 

(The Black is getting shorter as they get closer to Phandalin. Taako can feel a tiny tug, an odd squirm in his stomach. Holy shit, he might meet his heart today.)

 

He must’ve rolled a twenty, because when he looks around Wave Echo Cave, follows the line, he finds the skeleton almost immediately. “Aw, hell,” he doesn’t say, keeps his cool, kneels in front and borrows its umbrella. The String won’t snap, though, so he waves it around making sure it’s what he’s connected to instead of the dead dude, who is now a pile of ash. Merle is a little bit electrocuted but he can walk it off. Dwarves have pretty good constitution. “So,” Taako says. “Now I have an umbrella.” The umbrella has the other end of his Black, but that’s for later to figure out. Gundren, to his credit, calls the trio crazy, and then Merle casts a lavender light spell, which is kinda neat since it matches Taako’s outfit today. The point is, when he flips the umbrella open and shut at the weird silvery gauntlet, nothing happens, so he holsters it back on his hip and snickers at Magnus’ whole flaming high five situation.

 

Ol’ Gundro rockets into the atmosphere, and Taako is starting to get really annoyed because c'mon, Killian, do we seriously have to _save the world_ from a fancy glove? Really all you need to defeat it is a bucket of water. So yeah, he lags behind, and yeah, he's using the umbrella as a walking stick because the thing with Magic Brian tired him out, and _okay, god, fine,_ he trips.

 

It's not his fault that the umbrella snaps under his weight and it's not his fault that a cloud of flame bursts out and it's not his fault that this firestorm turns into what looks like an elven woman with a bombass outfit.

 

 _Taako?_ She says, and he gets suddenly very, very uninterested in saving Phandalin because she has the other end of his Black.

 

“Scuzi?” Taako replies, “do I know you?”

 

 _It's me, please, it's_ _L̶̡̡̰̯͈̖̣͇̹̥̺͇̩̺̯̭̘͌̿̀͋̂͞u̷̝̦̟̤̦̠͖͓̣̯̭͕̞͈̲̫̦̠̎ͣͨ̓̊ͧ́̿̎ͦ̇̓̔ͦp̧̧̩̯̲͕̰͓̺̻͉͖̥̪̼̈̆̓̾͊̉͗͋ͯ͌ͨ̒͋ͪ̑͜͟,̵̺̪̰̥̝͈̻̰̖̩̻̼͈͖̭̗̦͒͂̓ͨ̑̊̃͑ͫ͐̑̑̓̓ ̷̧̢̡̣͉̝̱̱̙̩͖̖͈̪̲͇͈̔̋̑͆ͪͯ̐ͭͯ̄́ͭͦ̕y̷̴̰̙̩̭͈̬̌͂̐̂͑̉ͅơ̢̾̏̎̄҉҉̣͈̞̦̗̠̳͓̤̭uͯ̊̆͋̈́͛ͦ͛͒̈́͐̏͑͊ͨ̚̚͡͏҉̘̲̘͕͚̯̹͓̠̦̥͇͇͇̼̠̲̠r̢̖̞̟̙̬̗̝͇̟ͬͪ́̎ͣ̊̎͊̆͒ ̍͐̇̋͛ͥ̀ͩͦͪ̍́̃̚͟͏̱͇̥̼̪̩͈̼̻͟ͅs̝͕̖͕͚̩̦̞͔͎̱͍͎̳̞͕͓̰̥̆̃ͧ͗ͮ͆̌̈̔͋͆̆͠i̢̢̯̟̗̖̠̺͎̭͉͚̬͉̟̺̖͛ͨ̊̽ͬ̒͋̈̓͡s͑͑̒͛͏̗̟̠̰̤̪̤͘͝t̷̠̞͕̮̼͔͔̥̹ͦ̎̓ͤͥ̓̉̈́͌̚͟͞e̾ͭ͐ͮͦ̋͒ͫͭ̐̒ͭ͑͏̤͎͚̤͕̼̣͔r̎̈́̈́̈̍͌ͬͩ̎͌ͦ͐͏̧̩̪̺̟͎̮̦̫͇͉̞̟̪̦̭̲̪͡ͅ_ _!_

 

“Huh? All I got was static.”

 

 _Fuck,_ says the woman, and then she's looking around the cave entrance like Brian and his whole squad are about to come back from the dead and challenge her to a duel. _How long has it been? Ten years? Twenty? What did she do?_

 

Magnus and Merle and Killian are probably gone by now. Taako takes a seat, might as well be comfy when you're talking to a lady who came out of an umbrella and whose face keeps glitching, which is admittedly freaking him out a little bit. “I have no clue what you're talkin’ about, babe,” he says. “But you know my name, n’ you keep saying staticky shit, so.”

 

She looks like she's about to start crying. _Koko,_ she throws herself at him, and he doesn't catch alight which is good because he spent a lotta coin on these pants. _Koko, it's okay, I'm sticking with you and together we can figure this out, I love you._

 

“Whoa,” Taako says, but she's clearly distraught (and a good hugger) so don't let anyone tell you chaboy's unempathetic.

 

The sky fills with fire, then, and he sees no more.

 

*******

 

 _T̷̋͊̋́̈́̈́ͦ͒̆̈́ͭ͋ͨ̉̐ͭ̄̚͞҉̹̱̞̟̼̹͚̼͡a̓́ͣͥ̂͑ͪ̽҉̥͈̬̜̝͙͍̘̱̘̼̘̯̩̦͟a̧̲̱̼̼̦͔͔̤̲̻̹̣̤̠͗̽̒̊ͧͥ͊ͨ̉̿̋̚̚͘͘ͅk̴͈̫̤̣̭̲͎̯͉͎̣̓̀̌̓̆̇̄͋̒̚͟o̭̺͚͕̙̠͔̬͇̘̱̺̣̤̝͓͙͓͗ͨ̎̒ͥ͑̿̒̉ͮ̑ͦ̋ͧ̆̑̔̚͜͜.̸̴̛̞͉͉̗̯̞̰͚͗ͪ̈́̑͌̈̅̅ͭ͑ͥͯ̍͗ͥ́͢ ̸̷͎̲͇̗̮̠̞̘͛̽̑ͣ̊ͬͯ̅͐͆ͣ͛͋̓̒͒͂͐̽͝T̢̬̲̗̱͕̋̌̈́ͦ̑ͩͣͬ̏ͨ̔̍̓̏̊̚a̷͊ͬ̓͊ͦͣ̅̂̃͐̾̐͐̎҉̠͓̠̞̭͞a̍́͌ͩ̀͐ͨͨ͆̀̇̓ͫ̅̏ͨ͏̶̵͍͈͙͈͞ͅḳ̴̷̜͉̤̘̱̫̤̹̫̻̰̻̮̜̼͓ͭͬ͆ͮ̏͐̎͊͜o̶̸̯̥̤͈̣̙̰͙̬̼̮͎͈͒̓͐̋ͮ̿ͩ̏ͯ͐̋,̴̙̬͇̺̥̖̹̜͈͇̞͕̎̋ͥͥ̿ͩ̿ͬ͐̌̔ͧͪ͑͝ͅ ̖̣͎̯̪͍̬͖͖͙̻̮̾̐ͮͨ̊ͮͨͪͫͦ̌͑̌͟͡w̶̵̨̱͓̹̳͍̩̜͇͔̖̭̭̎͂ͤ͒͘a̷̡̺̺̫͕̖̭͉̩̦͖ͣ̅ͨ̿̽ͦ̏ͦ͒͐̊̒ͭ̿̚͠ḱ̢̛̳̩̮͓̘͉̊̑̾ͯ̊̀͗̑̽́̈̑̍ͨ̓̏͞͝ē̵͒ͤ̽͗ͬͣ͆͐̾̇͝͏̢̟̪͇̼̗̱̟̝̘̻̠͖̣͚̞̝͡ͅ ̶̢ͥ̂̌ͥ̓͊͟͝҉̪̬̹͉̝̖ͅu͌̐̓̀͆̈́ͭ̒̉̐̿̋ͬ̂ͤ̓͋̔̚͟͏͙͍̝͙̙̱͖̤̻͍̰̲͚͠p͒ͨ̃ͥ̈́̍͗̕͟͏̪͉̮̗̺̲͔̝̺͎̠̦̬̻,̸̖̫̳̹̹̹̞̩̭͚͕̳ͥ̂ͦ͊ͬ̕͢͝͡ ̄͊͛͌̄̿͂̂͠҉̴̱̠̘͍̮̣̞ͅb̹̣̪̹̟͚͚̦̉̂̃̑̄ͧͦ͊̀ͬ̓͘͜͠͞ͅa͍̠̘͓̺ͤ̉ͮ̉̋́ͤ̓̍̍ͤ̒͂ͪ̿͗̈́̕̕b̵̞̞̰̻͚̠͍͕ͤͯ̔͆͑̄̄͝e̶̴̢̥̱̦̝̩̖̥̰̞͖̰̻̬̥̻̣͙͌̍ͪ̒ͯ͒́̃̍ͭͫ͒ͭ̾ͮ̏̚̚͜.̷̡̰̳̰̞͈̘̭̠̼̜̣̫̩͕̻̝̈̈̓̊̾ͯ͌͊̉̽̓͆̆ͤ̽_  
̶̧̧͙̠̦̓̐̿̇ͭ̂  
͌́̔ͫͫ̓͊͊̐̀̈́̚҉̠̟̱͓̖̖̳̳ͅ“͖̘̯̠̩͍̼̮̺̞̏ͥ̈́̎͊̒̋̚͘͢F̨̢̛͈̯̖̙͓̭̺͖̬̪̮̘̥̀͌ͩ̈́ͅͅi̶̵͈̫̣̟͔̞͎̠͍ͤ̈̎̓̄ͭ̐̽͋̽ͪ̈ͯͪͧ̚̕v̷̸ͧ̋ͩ̄̀͑ͫͪ̓̈͑͗̍̿̐̊҉̖͇͔̭̫̹̯̯̯̬ͅė̷̵ͯͣͫ͂͗̓͛ͫͨ̚̕͏̢̲̠̯͍̼̩ ͂̑̏̈́̌̿̃͌̋̇͂̐͋̓͘҉̧̢̟͚̞̤͚̣̘̫̣̠m̶̡͉̯͍̞͉͉̥̟̰̜̣̹̞̮̯͇̑ͤ̇̎̋͆̆͂͡ͅi̸̻̪͎̞̘̝̱̲̱͉͐̑̍͂̐̿̎̽̉ͩ̀́ͮ͝͡͠n̴̰͕̬̝ͥ̔ͬ͂͘u̵͎͖̥̗̖̲͕̞̥̯̝ͦ̔̏̓ͫͪ̿́͐̐͘t̗̣̳̼̠̜̩͍̺͙͙͎͖̟̮̖̜͖ͥ̆͂ͬ͡ẻ̷̪͔̤̳͇̪͔̬̣̤̦͎̙͓̲͍̼̓̋̂ͨ͢͠š̨ͬ͐̊ͦͥͧͯͫ͊̌ͬ̓ͤ̑͝͠͏̫̘̲̭͙͔̗͖̗͙̖̯ͅͅ,̔̾̓̎ͥ̈͆͂͘̕҉̴̞͚̜̤̦̘͉͖͙̩͍̖͉̗ ̶̴̅̇̽̿́̽́͏̙͉̖͚͎̹͉̲L̵̵͕̭̖̭̞͖̙̙̳̓̓͌ͦͯ͢͝ͅū̢̢̑͛ͩͯ̋̅ͩͪ̔͟҉͓͍̲̰̩͍̳̬̟̠̫͖l̺͙̘̫ͬͮ̓̿͟͡uͪ̓͌̑ͤ͂̊̽ͣͫͪͮͬ̿̃͝͠͏̩̥̲̬̮͉͎͕̳̭͓̺.̛̓̔̾̍̄͂̚͏̼͎̘̺̲̟̰̝̹͍̞̦̬”̌̿̅ͦ̋͊ͤ͢҉͙͉͕̩̲̬̻͕̮̖̣̳̩̼͇ͅͅ  
̧̞̜͔͉͙͙ͬ͂̂̎̕͡  
*******

 

Taako wakes up alone, which isn't unusual, in a stark white room, which is. He's wearing a bright red cloak when he sits up. “Umbrellady?” He calls out for her, slurs the words together, tugs at the clasp at his throat.

 

A panel of the wall slides away, clicks open to show off a human in her fifties. “You're awake!” She sounds surprised.

 

“Chyeah,” Taako says. “What happened?”

 

 _That's Lucretia,_ umbrella lady murmurs. _She'll help us, she_ has _to._

 

Lucretia holds out a glass of viscous fluid. “Drink this,” she instructs him, and Taako may be an experimental chef but he still likes to know what he's putting in his mouth.

 

“What is it?”

 

“Do you want the truth, or a comfortable half-truth?”

 

He thinks about it. “Both, bubeleh, but start with the half.”

 

“It'll help you understand what happened to Phandalin. And why you're here.” _Here,_ Taako assumes, means this room, whose walls can slide around instead of just having a door like a normal building.

 

“What happened to Phandalin?” He echoes. Drinks. Yep, key lime gogurt. “And what is this, really?”

 

“Jellyfish droppings. Magic ones.” Adult life is already so goddamn weird. Taako shrugs, passes the cup back. “And Phandalin was destroyed by the Phoenix Fire Gauntlet, wielded by Gundren Rockseeker.” Distortion sloughs off Lucretia's words like snow off tin. “You were one of the only survivors. We found you at the mouth of Wave Echo Cave and brought you here, to the Bureau of Balance.”

 

 _Phandalin?_ All _of Phandalin?_ Umbrella lady (and god, he needs to get her name) comes back with a burst of emotion, and he feels the same.

 

“Who are the others?”

 

“One of my colleagues, Killian Crushbone. Two of yours, Magnus Burnsides and Merle Highchurch. They were all found together, at the bottom of a well.”

 

“ _That's it?_ ” They say in unison, not shriek, because they're so cool.

 

“That's it. Do you wanna go see them, Taako?” She knows his name. Whatever. Everyone does.

 

“Yes.” She smiles at his response, starts to turn and leave, but umbrella lady is nowhere to be seen, and Taako almost doesn't wanna leave without her.

 

 _Shhhh,_ the back of his mind twinges, _I'm the cloak right now. It's like we're playing hide n’ seek. Now close your eyes, Koko, I'm gonna disappear and we don't want any cheating._ The woman leaves an odd blank space in Taako's head when she goes silent. He almost misses the stream of her thoughts.

 

“Wait,” he says under his breath, following Lucretia out the door. “What do I call you?” For a moment he wonders if she'll come back at all. But then he feels the tickle of her spectral laughter, sighs with something like relief.

 

 _Call me Red,_ she says like it's an inside joke he's forgotten. _For the cloak we share._

 

*******

 

Lup presses her hand, or the concept of it, against the glass. _Hi, Fisher,_ she says. Magnus and Merle are still drinking, and they can't see her anyway, but Taako is watching her float around, tethered like a fantasy balloon to the hem of his cloak. She snorts at his bewilderedly fond expression. Bets he’s wondering why he likes her so much after such a short time of being possessed-ish.

 

Fisher trills a confused arpeggio to see her after so long. She hums a comforting reply, one she came up with after decades of practice. _I'll figure it out,_ she tells them. _Promise._

 

The boy- Johann- flaps his hands around. “Do you understand, now?”

 

Lup doesn't envy the boys, getting ten years of memory back, but it's almost funny to watch them double over. Reminds her of the time they all got supremely fucked up in one of the earlier cycles, when they all lost a drinking contest to the captain. Lucy was the lightest weight out of the seven, and Lup should really cut it out before she starts crying, ‘cause liches can’t cry unless as an intimidation factor. Trust me, bubeleh, it just looks like smoke coming outta your eyes. Magnus shakes his head, wipes his mouth with the back of his hand the way he always has, and immediately kneels to make sure Merle’s okay. _What a good man he’s turned into,_ she sets a hand on Taako’s shoulder, urges him towards the others. _Go on, Koko._

 

“Holy shit,” Merle says grandly.

 

Taako, ever easily influenced by his big sister (okay fine by two minutes we don’t have time for semantics) saunters on over and paps the boys’ cheeks minus Johann. Lup wonders if one of their team would ever consider doubleclassing as a bard, because that seems to be a pretty useful skillset these days.

 

Johann's not Taako's type. Or Lup's, but she's spoken for so it doesn't matter anyway. _Gods,_ _Barry-_ she skips out on that line of thought. Wonders where Junior is. She didn’t know there was a second Voidfish, but it was pretty obvious- plus she has absolute pitch. EGGBABE isn’t that difficult to parse, my dude. Lup watches the boys come back to themselves, shoots a finger gun at her twin. The Thread between them tapers off into thin black as she floats after Lucretia.

 

Once they get into an office, Lucy starts talking. “Whoever you are,” she says, “this base is under my protection. I won’t have any interference from poltergeists.”

 

 _Poltergeist?_ Lup holds one hand to her chest, affronted, and flickers back into existence.

 

To say Lucretia bursts into tears is an understatement. She explodes, rushes toward her friend arms flung open. Lup doesn’t take the proffered hug for two reasons: one, she’s mostly intangible, and two, she’s a bit miffed at the moment. “We thought you were dead!”

 

 _I am dead,_ Lup points out. _Just fifty percent of the time. What did you do with the baby?_ Lucretia nods as furiously as a sobbing middle-aged woman can. She waves one hand toward the wall, sends out a wave of magic to reveal a smaller version of Fisher’s tank and backs away when Lup swoops down to make some form of eye contact with the baby. _Great,_ she says, half-smiling at them when they wave, _now put Junior back with their parent._

 

“Not yet,” Lucretia sniffles. “This world isn’t ready.”

 

_I dunno where you got the gravitas from, Luce, but I’m super into it. But I’m serious, why not?_

 

“The relics are still out there, forgotten to the collective memory, and Lucas and I-”

 

_-who’s Lucas?_

 

“Lup, I’m thrilled to see you but please, let me talk.” She huffs. “Lucas and I think by combining two Voidfish’s knowledge there’d be a chance of projecting it back into the world. I already erased them once, I don’t want to cause any more wars.”

 

 _Then let me give Taako back his memories, at least. You’ve gotta have a reason for collecting the boys up here on a fake moon._ Lucretia’s brows knit together- they’ve grown rather impressively white since the last time Lup saw her- and wait just a mcfucking second. _Why is your hair white?_ Lup interrupts her again, halfways through a tirade about how she can't possibly inoculate Taako for Reasons, and lets an arm hover nervously around her shoulders. _What did you do?_

 

“I had a bad experience with some liches while I was searching for the Animus Bell. They took twenty years of my life,” Lucretia claws at her own throat, expression haunted, and gods Lup wishes she could hug her right now.

 

 _I'm going to inoculate Taako,_ Lup swallows her horror, waves at Junior, _and then the two of us are gonna find Barold, and then we'll come help you fix everything_.

 

Lucretia wipes at her face with a draping sleeve. “I'm so sorry, Lup. I should have looked harder for you.”

 

 _We don't have time for this,_ she replies, _apologise later, babe,_ and returns to Taako's side in a flash.

 

*******

 

 _Koko,_ Red is whispering, _Koko, there's something you've gotta see._

 

“I'm a little busy, bubeleh,” Taako says, gestures at the ogre situation with his shitty starter wand, which isn't much more than a stick with a star on the end, “but if you leave a message I'll get back to you ay-ess-ay-pee.”

 

_Koko, we both know you can take these guys down fast as hell all by yourself._

 

“I'm level two. Got the wrong guy? Haunted the wrong dingus?” Taako doesn’t wonder why it would hurt so much to not have her anymore.

 

Red almost sounds upset. _How did you lose fourteen levels- nevermind. Just. Let me handle this._ She wraps herself around Taako, pours an electrified burn from his palms using his entire body as a focus, which is admittedly super fucking cool, and he is treated to the singular sensation of casting a level sixteen evocation spell as a level two chef.

 

The ogres go up in flames, one by one, and when she stops using his spine like a funky little tuning fork, he vibrates back into his head and immediately waves Merle and Magnus down. “The fuck did you do that for?”

 

 _You were taking too long,_ she chirps, _now c’mon, it’ll be really cool. You’ll like it._

 

Taako doesn’t follow her lead as much as she pushes him along. He moves through the crowd of watchers as if in a trance, and barely acknowledges Madam Director congratulating him through the intercom.

 

 _Drink,_ she says. There's a tiny tank in the back of the room, and Taako's eyes keep sliding off it when he tries to look. _Drink._

 

“What is it?”

 

 _Drink, Taako. I can't help you until you drink. I can't_ _ḅ͇̪̯͔̗̝ͨͪ̏̂͊̈́̈́ͮͮ͗ͦ̔́ͫ̎̕͝ẽ͌̂̇͐ͥͭ̊͏̷̧̞͚̩̙ ̅ͨͨ͐̓ͥ̔̈͐̇̏͊͏͏͞҉͓̹͕͇͚͖̦y̴̩̦̜͎̖̤̠̱͚̦̝͚͖͎͍̬̳͎̐ͪ̌̒̋ͫ͐̂͐̋̏̾̂͐̃o̴͎̥͙̮͍̰̱̪̪͍͍̘̰̞ͫ̄̾͊ͪ̈̇͛ͪ̅̈͂̓̈́̌͑̊͠͡ư̫̱̯̟̞̦͔͎̗̘͎̙̭̮̬͉͉̣̋̉͛̋̄̓ͅr̶̴̯̟̯̻̪̜̻͎̰̝̫͉̙̭̮ͬͩ̋̄͐̈́̃̇͗̈̏͒ͬ̇̾̋͡͡ͅ ̵̨̳̜̜̽ͬͩ̆͞ͅs̵̨̨̱̼̩̣͎͔̖͈̣̻̜̤̤̮̰͓͎̊͋̀̓i̻̻͖̗͒ͩͯ͒̍̍ͭ̏̓͆͋̄̽͢͠s̶̐̄ͤ͛͒̌̊̽̊ͦ̊͢͟͏͇̟͖̤ͅt̷̵̛͚̦ͪͥͯ̌ͫ̋͘ͅe̵̲͉̠̣͖͕͉̜͎͍̒̀ͩ̑ͦͨͥ̃ͣ̀̊̾̿̋ͣ̊ͫ͢͠ͅȓ͌ͪ̈̅ͤ̆͒̽҉̘͖̬͕̜̦̼̞͕̦͎̺͈̖̥͍_ _if you don't drink. I know you don't trust easy, Koko, but you have to trust me on this._

 

“You have my String. You're supposed to be my heart,” Taako says, “I was always going to trust you.”

 

And he drinks.

 

To say it's painful is to say only forty people died way back when. It's true, of course, but there's still the psychological bit. The bit where you think you've finally got back on your feet and all of a sudden you're whoops-a-daisy stumbling over yourself into the guilt and don't cook since.

 

Umbrella lady is talking to him, a steady stream of exposition, rambling in and out of the years and trying to hold his head up off the ground so he doesn't hurt himself screaming but he keeps phasing through her arms. It takes a long long time for him to come back from the century and the Hunger and the decade where he was one half of a person and didn't even notice and then the static dies with a hushed sort of sob and his sister is there.

 

_I'm here. I'm here, it's me, it's Lup. I'm going to take care of you please breathe-_

 

“Lup,” Taako doesn't say her name as much as he gathers the gasping remnants of his being Nothing Without Her and spits them out trickling down his chin like rabies just got into vogue and he's on the front cover. “Lup.”

 

_Hi, baby brother. Miss me?_

**Author's Note:**

> kieran. one of my many sons. how i love you so. be brave. be proud of what you do, every single day, because i already am.


End file.
